Chapter 375: Chapter 318 Attendance Contract

“My dear lover,” Sonia heard Ash’s ostentatious laughter, “you’re still so easy to understand, just like the you in the cabin.”

“When you lied in the cabin, you also became unexpectedly talkative, loving to use reasons and excuses to cover your true intentions, with a flood of words to shift other’s attention.”

“You said you want to kill us, if that’s a lie, then it means you absolutely won’t kill us.”

“Why not kill us then? The answer is also obvious–the ‘Secret Avatar’ is too important for you to bear the risk of losing it, so you try to use threats to make us submit.”

“That’s a bold conjecture,” Denzel said. “But aren’t you afraid I’ll get mad and throw you out?”

Ash turned his head to look at Sonia. Sonia turned her head away, not looking at him, only her fingers tightening slightly.

“Then go ahead and throw us,” Ash said. “I’ve heard that spiders like to wrap their prey and make them into yogurt before enjoying them, I’m quite curious about this way of death. Are you interested in letting me try?”

The wind stopped, but the rain hadn’t. Suddenly, it was so quiet that all that could be heard was the sound of Diya’s tugging on the threads, and the low droning of the Eight-eyed Weaving Spider’s mouthparts cutting through the air.

“Heh.”

Thump! Ash and Sonia were slammed hard onto the ground. Diya quickly went over to help them up, and the three of them stared intently at Denzel, who was leaning against the fence. The terrifying Eight-eyed Weaving Spider became her backdrop, lending her an imperial pressure as if she ruled the world.

“I never thought you were such a greedy man,” Denzel said with her arms crossed. “To keep the ‘Secret Avatar,’ you’re not only gambling your own life but even that of the person next to you…”

Ash interjected, “Teammate.”

Denzel glanced at Sonia. “…Aren’t you afraid of losing the bet?”

“I only know that betting could lead to losing, but not betting guarantees death,” Ash said calmly. “If I hand over the ‘Secret Avatar,’ then you’ll really throw us out to the spiders.”

Denzel narrowed her eyes. “I’m not that mean.”

The words sounded like a coquettish complaint, but her flat intonation only made it seem like she was implying ‘I’m actually not mean enough.’

“You are a ghost crazed by love; in life, you could twist the definition of love with murder, build cages of love from corpses, as long as it meant furthering your twisted affection, no moral laws or codes of conduct could hinder you.”

“Your current master…” Ash enunciated every word, “…is the ‘All-Knowing Weaver’ that you once regarded as a forbidden delicacy, right?”

Days ago, Sonia had told Ash that Demilo was likely a person from the Kingdom of Stars. Add to that titles like Star Hall, and she strongly suspected that the owner of Star Hall was the Guardian of the Kingdom of Stars, the Magic Master of Dazzling Star.

Ash naturally didn’t doubt Sonia’s words, but he did not completely trust them either. After all, Sonia had her own plot world, which naturally had connections to reality.

However, Denzel’s appearance completely proved that these wandering Heroic Soul Army on the Time Continent were the handiwork of the Divine Lords. Her mention of the ‘Gospel Avatar of the All-Knowing Weaver’ even indicated that she was an ancient Mage of the Kingdom of Gospel from a thousand years ago; she might have made great achievements, and Ash might even have the possibility of encountering her bloodline descendants.

Denzel did not answer, her fingers lightly tapping the wooden railing, causing the entourage outside the fence to suddenly stir.

“You’re someone who’s accustomed to eradicating the root,” Ash said. “We know too much. Even for the sake of the All-Knowing Weaver, you couldn’t easily let us go. The ‘Secret Avatar’ is our only protective charm. Once you take it back, it’s like removing your last reservation, free to transform us into projections of Mages in the Void Realm.”

Denzel still did not speak, but the Eight-eyed Weaving Spider behind her quieted down.

“The Static Domain is coming up soon.” Ash glanced at the sky; the enormous hooves of the Heavenly Carriage Bull were completely out of sight, and a gloomy cold light rose at the far horizon, slowly pushing out the golden rain, “Didn’t you say you like smart people the most? Smart people, at a time like this, will only make one decision.”

“What decision?” Denzel finally spoke. “It can’t be to let you go, can it?”

“Letting us go, we’ll inevitably come back to this area anyway,” Ash’s expression unchanged. “You’ll still have the chance to snatch back the ‘Secret Avatar’ from us. Killing us… that would mean disappointing your lover.”

The Commander’s tapping finally stopped.

“You’ll come back?”

“How could a Mage not come to the Void Realm?”

“In case—-”

“You can only trust us,” Ash said. “We can’t just stop coming to the Void Realm, and I don’t know where you will appear or how to avoid you.”

Sonia and Diya didn’t speak, silently lowering their heads to prevent Denzel from seeing the gleam of delight in their eyes.

They certainly knew where this Commander would appear and how to avoid her pursuit!

Ash’s Void Realm Map had long made clear that the route of the Heavenly Carriage Bull was circular, arriving at the same region every cycle. This meant that on the night the Heavenly Carriage Bull was nearing the Spider Tower region, they could just rest and entertain themselves without going to work in the Void Realm, naturally avoiding Denzel’s contract-bound chase.

Yet Denzel shook her head. “I don’t trust you.”

Ash’s gaze sharpened.

“I only trust contracts.”

Denzel snapped her fingers, and her appearance shifted instantly from a mysteriously seductive Assassination Expert to a smart and beautiful office lady wearing a vest, short skirt, high heels, and a pair of plain glasses–albeit a bit taller.

Ash was taken aback. “Is this also… a troop type of your Spider Tower?”

“No,” Denzel shook her head. She pinched in the air, and suddenly a contract appeared out of thin air: “This is the ‘profession’ responsible for production.”

She had no intention to explain further, flicking her finger lightly, and three contracts fell in front of Ash and the others.

The content of the contract was simple.

‘Party A: Spider Tower Commander 001’

‘Party B: (to undergo Magic Power verification)’

‘Once the Heavenly Carriage Bull steps into the Spider Tower region, Party B must stay in the Spider Tower area for more than three hours.’

‘If Party B possesses the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit, they are not allowed to abandon it.’

‘When Party A encounters and captures Party B, Party B must voluntarily surrender the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit.’

‘Penalty for breach of contract: For the first breach, Party A will strip Party B of one owned Technique Spirit (Soul Summoning Technique Spirit takes priority); for the second breach, two; for the third breach…; for the tenth breach, Party B shall die.’

‘Effective time of the contract: Starting from the signing.’

“Sign it,” Denzel’s tone was cold and uncompromising. “Or be thrown out by me.”

“But think carefully, once you sign this contract, even if you hand over the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit, it won’t be the end. Either you will be hunted to death by me in the Void Realm, or penalized by the realms after missing ten times.”

Sonia shook her head. “Then wouldn’t we be guaranteed to breach the contract if we climbed to a higher layer of the Void Realm? I’m not signing this dead-end contract.”

Denzel’s expression did not change. “This is an oversight on my part, I will add it in.”

Then an additional clause appeared in the contract: ‘Should Party B enter a higher layer of the Void Realm and be unable to access the Time Continent, this contract becomes void.’

The three of them looked at each other, and Denzel raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any more objections? I have already allowed you a permanent escape from being hunted. Surely you don’t expect more? Or do you think I would let you go without any conditions?”

After signing, Ash and the others would have to work on the day of the Spider Tower’s turn; missing work meant a direct pay deduction, and ten absences meant retirement–permanent retirement.

“Of course,” Ash reviewed the contract. “However, there is no clause on this concerning you, which seems a bit improper, doesn’t it?”

“How would you constrain me?” Denzel’s voice had not a hint of anger, as if genuinely asking out of curiosity. “I can’t just let you go like this, and the next time we meet, I can’t possibly go easy on you.”

“Once you are captured by me, you must surrender the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit and then become food for my minions.”

“That’s the point,” Ash said. “Without a contract, you won’t let us go; but even with one, you’re not necessarily going to let us leave.”